Maundy Thursday is a day when I choose to remember two very different men, each of whom I got to know when I was in Glasgow.

The first, KS, was a retired Baptist minister, and someone who was hugely supportive of my ministry at The Gathering Place, where he was also one of my predecessors.  He loved the poetry of T S Elliott, and a habit of quoting from 'Little Gidding' (which in turn draws on Julian of Norwich) 'All shall be well, and all shall be well, and all manner of things shall be well'.  Early in my ministry, K suffered a major stroke on Maundy Thursday, which robbed him of most speech and almost all mobility, whilst leaving his intellect as sharp as ever.  I visited him in hospital and later in a hospice, where his final days were spent.  A Rawdon man (yay!), a scholar, a man with clay feet, an encourager... I am blessed to recall him.

The second was KF, another man of fierce intellect, with interests as diverse as astronomy, poetry, rambling and photography.  A man of strong opinions, yet able to argue both sides of almost any topic.  In 2021, I was invited to nominate potential recipients for Maundy Money, and was thrilled when K, along with I and M, were awarded this honour.  On Maundy Thursday 2022, they received their from the then Prince of Wales, standing in for the Queen, whose health was becoming increasingly frail.  Sadly, K died on Maundy Thursday 2023.  Always supportive of my ministry, along with his wife, he was another good man, who I am privileged to have known.

So, as I join tonight with folk from Railway Town for a communion and Tenebrae, I will pause, if only fleetingly, to recall K and K.. may they rest in peace and rise in glory.